Good morning. Happy Wednesday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly down. Australia, Hong Kong, China and Singapore suffered the biggest losses. There were no noticeable winners. Europe currently leans to the downside. Norway, Italy and Spain are down the most; Russia is up 0.4%. Futures here in the States point towards a down open for the cash market.
The dollar is flat. Oil is up, copper down. Gold is up, silver down.
Yesterday the Russell undercut its previous day’s low, the mid caps push above its previous day’s high and the Dow, Nas and SPX formed inside days – that’s where all the movement takes place within the high and low of the previous day.
The market is very noncommittal right now. Some signs point up, others point down. It’s typical for there to be a few non-confirming indicators, but right now there are more indicators sitting in neutral than are hinting at a directional move.
This is the market we’ve been dealt. Surprisingly we’ve had quite a few good trades (virtually every stock on the Long List which has triggered is posting a gain right now), but we’re not exactly getting robust follow through. Without a strong wind at our backs, swinging for singles and doubles (as opposed to home runs) is the only way to go. More after the open.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Barclays (BCS -0.79%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Overweight’ at HSBC.
Broadcom (BRCM +2.99%) was downgraded to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ at Standpoint Research.
The WSJ reports that NRG Energy (NRG +1.21%) is close to buying Alta Wind Energy Center (EIX +0.97%) , the largest wind farm in North America, for $800 million.
Coach (COH -0.20%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at Sterne Agee.
Credit Suisse (CS -0.74%) was upgraded to ‘Conviction Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at Goldman Sachs.
Deutsche Bank (DB -0.22%) was upgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Sell’ at Goldman Sachs.
Under Armour (UA -0.72%) gained 1.4% in pre-market trading after the stock was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at Jeffries.
Northrop Grumman (NOC -0.39%) was awarded a $9.9 billion government contract for B-2 modernization and sustainment.
ABM Industries (ABM -1.79%) reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 33 cents, well below consensus of 40 cents.
Ascena Retail (ASNA -0.79%) reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 27 cents, well ahead of consensus of 19 cents.
Mattress Firm (MFRM -0.74%) reported Q1 adjusted EPS of 31 cents, below consensus of 36 cents.
Earnings and Economic Numbers from seekingalpha.com…
Today’s economic calendar:
7:00 MBA Mortgage Applications
8:15 ADP Jobs Report
8:30 Gallup U.S. Job Creation Index
8:30 International Trade
8:30 Productivity and Costs
9:45 PMI Services Index
10:00 ISM Non-Manufacturing Index
10:30 EIA Petroleum Inventories
2:00 PM Fed’s Beige Book
Notable earnings before Wednesday’s open:BF.B, CYBX, HOV, IXYS, LDOS
Notable earnings after Wednesday’s close BV, FIVE, GEF, PVH, RLD, VRNT
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers
0 thoughts on “Before the Open (Jun 4)”
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Never short a dull market..
Looks like I didn’t miss much being gone on Mon / Tues.
Lots of cross currents, esp with eco reports not giving bulls the data they want to make the case for higher prices.
This morning’s ADP report was a disappointment for those anticipating job creation, and of course the biggie in that category is Fri at 830 with the monthly BLS BS re: non-farm payrolls and unemployment rate.
But the traders have left a few footprints we can get some info from.
Monday’s low is important for bulls: if 1916, with the cushion down to 1913.5, holds they’ll be
going for about 1930 which you’ll recall is one target [1931] I’m looking for to be filled. If 1913.5 is broken, then we have an indication we’re headed lower, at least short term. Possibly down to 1865.
Resistance, at 1919 up thru 1923. They could tag yesterday’s close at 1924, then reverse lower.
If I had to give the market a subjective label, it would be “sloppy.”
Today, Beige Book at 2 pm which may cause a market reaction, but without a doubt the traders
are waiting for Friday’s reports, which surely will cause a reaction prior to and then after the 930 bell.
BTW, I’ve done some research into any correlation between the Wed ADP report and Friday’s non-farm payroll report. I see none, based on comparison of about 2 years of data. Not scientific, but enough for me not to expect the ADP to predict Friday’s numbers.
Futures were +.75 to -6 overnight, now at 9:10 are -4.0